Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness

Reading Adventure Time!, formerly known as the pilot version of the iBraille Challenge Mobile App, is an educational technology tool integrating digital literacy to support braille reading and writing instruction for students in 1st–12th grades. Designed to operate on an Apple iPad with a refreshable braille display, Reading Adventure Time! uses gaming strategies to motivate students to improve literacy skills such as fluency, comprehension, writing dictation, and proofreading.

The application (app) was developed under a Stepping Up Technology grant (H327S120007), which was disseminated to more than 50 teachers and students. Teachers and caregivers completed a Likert-type scale of technology skills as a pre- and postmeasure. Students’ reading speed, comprehension, and miscues were measured by the app.

Over 50 participants who used the app showed gains in reading and technology skills.

Students’ reading speeds, as measured by the app, mirror the reading speeds found in prior research (e.g., the ABC Braille Study). The impact on technology skills for teachers, caregivers, and students was much greater than anticipated.

The study provides evidence supporting Reading Adventure Time! as a supplemental intervention that addresses several reading skills and may be used in conjunction with a total, balanced literacy program.

This article demonstrates the effectiveness of the use of routine-based instruction for teaching sensorimotor-stage object-perception skills to students who have visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision) and severe intellectual disabilities.

Classroom teachers documented progress toward achievement of object perception goals embedded in everyday instruction for two students. Results: Both students demonstrated higher levels of object-perception skills after 4 months of routine-based instruction.

The authors discuss the use of highly attractive sensory topics and the supports and accommodations used to increase sensory-efficient object engagement.

Routine-based instruction may accelerate progress in the development of object-perception skills in students whose present cognitive levels of performance are at the sensorimotor stage regardless of chronological age. Additional goals may include expanding object perception skills for additional objects in new routines that create coherence in multiple contexts.

Anthony cautions that the training of teachers of students with visual impairments (i.e., blindness and low vision) and orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists covers a broad age range, which may result in limited curricular content essential for those who will work with very young children with visual impairments. The current study focuses on the self-efficacy of vision professionals regarding their work with infants and toddlers in using evidence-based approaches found in the early childhood literature.

Teachers and O&M specialists (n = 109) from 11 states participated in a survey of perceptions of self-efficacy and working with infants and toddlers with visual impairments. Correlates of preparedness, experience, vision-specific self-efficacy, and early intervention self-efficacy were investigated.

Participants indicated that they felt inadequately trained to work with infants and toddlers. Self-efficacy measures regarding motivation to implement vision-specific recommended practices were higher than motivation to implement early intervention practices; however, self-efficacy measures for early intervention confidence and practice were higher than vision-specific confidence and practice. Although participants’ ratings of the vision training program they attended were not correlated with their own self-efficacy measures, the amount of early childhood education content reported by participants was significantly correlated with all self-efficacy measures. Further, experience was correlated with self-efficacy.

Results support the need for a greater emphasis on early intervention content in visual impairment training programs. Additionally, the fact that half of the respondents in this study were over 50 years of age suggests that a turnover in personnel is imminent. Inevitably, this new workforce will lack experience.

Professional preparedness that includes a strong foundation in recommended practices in early childhood will strengthen the workforce and should ultimately improve services to infants and toddlers with sensory disabilities and their families. Practitioners may need to seek out this specialized training.

Few academic discussions are more contentious in the field of orientation and mobility than the notion of whether or not O&M specialists need to know braille. To help answer this question, we developed a survey.

An online survey instrument was distributed through O&M electronic discussion groups. The survey included a demographic section, a section concerning the use of braille for instructional purposes, questions about the importance of braille in the training and certification of O&M specialists, the level of knowledge of braille required, and whether or not respondents considered braille an essential job function.

Most participants (n = 108) believed or strongly believed that braille should be a separate course in personnel preparation programs and should be required for O&M personnel preparation programs accredited by the Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (AER). Slightly less than half (42%) of respondents believed or strongly believed that braille should be required for Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals (ACVREP) certification in O&M (n = 80; 22 respondents were undecided). Discussion: The field of visual impairment (i.e., blindness or low vision) needs to examine closely the amount of time, number of personnel required, and financial cost of pursuing braille as a competency for O&M specialists. Personnel costs may include additional resources to assist ACVREP in changing its requirements to include braille and the revision of the examination to reflect this new requirement, universities in hiring faculty to develop new programs of study to include coursework involving braille, and AER’s Higher Education Accreditation Commission in changing the AER University Review Accreditation Curricular Standards: Orientation and Mobility Specialists.

This study provided a snapshot of what a group (N = 189) of vision professionals believe regarding the importance of braille in O&M—141 of that group were certified in O&M; the remainder identified themselves as having multiple certifications. Further research is needed, especially including more representation of rehabilitation professionals, to obtain more input concerning this controversial topic.

One way to understand a profession is to examine the job tasks undertaken by professionals within the field. The profession of vision rehabilitation therapy is examined by finding the frequency at which 100 specific job tasks are performed on average by current vision rehabilitation therapists (VRTs). Fifty-one of the job task frequencies are compared to 1989 frequencies for changes across the last 28 years.

An anonymous online survey was carried out with current and recently retired VRTs. Participants were asked to rate the frequency at which they perform 100 specific job tasks and 13 demographic questions.

One hundred eighty-nine practitioners completed the survey. Mean frequencies for the 100 job tasks fell between a low of 1.08 (slightly above “do not perform the task”) for “writes grants for funding of agency services” and a high of 5.51 (above “perform 4 or 5 times a week”) for “writes case notes and reports for documentation.” Half of the 51 comparable job tasks indicated statistically significant changes in frequency across the 28-year period.

Statistically significant changes in job task frequencies occurred across job roles of teaching, case management, and professional or administrative activities, indicating that many aspects of the therapist’s job have changed. Individualized teaching remains a common aspect of the job, personalizing the skills taught and the teaching methods, for the individual client. VRTs are less frequently providing consultation to medical and community organizations.

The results presented provide an understanding of current job tasks of a practicing VRT. Understanding the changing trends of job tasks may inform university personnel preparation programs to better prepare students for employment demands. Decreasing community outreach may negatively affect the visibility of blind rehabilitation services and inadvertently affect referrals for vision rehabilitation therapy services.

We determined the types of leisure activities that affect health perception, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among Korean individuals with mild and severe visual impairments (i.e., those who have low vision or are blind).

Using the 2015 Korean national census data, 429 individuals were selected and classified into two groups based on visual impairment level: severe and mild. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was used to compare each group difference, followed by univariate analyses.

Participants with mild visual impairment reported social activity was the highest mean scores on health perception (M = 2.70, SD = 0.56) and life satisfaction (M = 3.54, SD = 0.37), and religious activity was the highest mean score on self-esteem (M = 2.79, SD = 0.52). Computer or Internet use was the second-highest score on health perception (M = 2.59, SD = 0.51), religious activity was the second-highest on life satisfaction (M = 3.33, SD = 0.46), and social activity was the second-highest on self-esteem (M = 2.77, SD = 0.61). Among participants with severe visual impairment, computer or Internet use showed the highest mean scores on health perception (M = 2.86, SD = 0.38) and self-esteem (M = 2.64, SD = 0.50), while social activity had the highest mean score on life satisfaction (M = 3.37, SD = 0.42).

Social and religious activity promoted health perception, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among participants with mild visual impairments. Social activity and computer or Internet use contributed to health perception, life satisfaction, and self-esteem among participants with severe visual impairments.

Leisure service providers and recreational therapists can support socialization and the building of friendships by individuals with visual impairments by designing and implementing social activities. Marketing and information dissemination using the Internet could aid access to necessary information among such individuals. Employing online social communities for social networking, information access, and education will contribute to their health and life satisfaction.